President Xi Jinping arrived at the airport today in an Air China jet a little after 4 pm, kicking off his three-day visit in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR.
The president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were welcomed by a large crowd of schoolchildren holding flowers and flags, and were greeted by outgoing chief executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng and his wife, Cheng Soo Ching, incoming CE Sam Hou Fai, the SAR’s first CE Edmund Ho, and other senior officials representing the SAR and central government.
The president delivered some brief remarks from the tarmac, noting that he was always happy to visit Macao. “I would like to see the new changes and developments in Macao over the last couple of years,” he said.
Xi praised the effectiveness of the One Country, Two Systems policy and described Macao as the “pearl on [China’s] palm.” Before being taken away in a motorcade, he said that in the coming days he would be interacting with different sectors of Macao society.
The exact schedule of the nation’s leader is being kept tightly under wraps, although local news outlets report that he is expected to attend an evening gala and performance at the Macau East Asian Games Dome tomorrow evening.
On Friday, which marks the anniversary of Macao’s handover to China, President Xi is expected to preside over the inauguration of Macao’s newly elected chief executive, Sam Hou Fai, as well as the senior members of his cabinet.
In keeping with previous anniversaries, a flag raising ceremony is also expected to take place in the morning at Lotus Square.
[See more: Macao pushes ahead with preparations for President Xi’s visit tomorrow]
While few specific details about President Xi’s itinerary have been revealed, on his two-day trip in 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover he visited the Premier School affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School, the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform, and the Government Service Centre.
During the 20th anniversary trip, the president also paid a visit to the homes of ordinary residents to learn more about their situation. As well, he conducted an inspection of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Macau Garrison and met with representatives of the central government and mainland-funded organisations who were stationed in the SAR.
His current trip to Macao will be his third as president and his seventh as an official. The leader made his inaugural official trip to the city in 2000 when he was the governor of Fujian.
Subsequent visits took place in 2001, as well as 2005, when he was the secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Zhejiang. In 2009, he revisited the city as the nation’s vice president.
The two previous trips that Xi made as president took place in 2014 and 2019.
